The Blood Heralds
The Blood Heralds are a faction that Trefoil Academy is allied with. Their symbol is the bleeding rose. Alignment and Affiliations Their alignment is considered to be true neutral. This means that sometimes they will uphold the laws of an area, and other times, they have no qualms of circumventing it. There will be times that they will seek to help an area in need for no other reason that it is in need. They will also look and move on opportunities that further the organization's personal agenda. How Blood Heralds interact with other factions Remember: * While the Blood Heralds may make or break alliances with other factions, it is important to remember these alliances are independent of the academy. The Blood Heralds are networkers. While they will consider the academy’s input if given respectfully, the Blood Heralds will make an independent decision at the end of the day. The same respect for one’s autonomy will be to given to the academy. The more useful information you provide and the more you prove yourself a reliable ally, the more and more resources will be made available. It is an investment and actions speak louder than words when building trust. * The Blood Heralds are open to the idea of working with most factions. Well thought out plans are a must though for actions have consequences. H'ow Does the Outside Perceive Them' The Blood Heralds are considered to be a secret organization of dark mages by the general public. While the various ministries outlaw certain spells as Unforgivable or Dark, the Blood Heralds disagree. They feel there are many other spells can do far greater damage - even a simple fire spell can cause unbelievable torment, yet it is not outlawed. The Blood Heralds are often labeled dark mages because they do not view magic as light or dark, but rather as a tool. How the Blood Heralds View of the World & Their Place In It The following is an example of how the Blood Heralds view the world: "Perceptions do not equal reality, and one’s actions are based on one’s perceptions. Therefore, we define our reality rather than reality defines us. To layman, we do not exist. We are simply shadows that one might fleetingly catch out of the corner one’s eye for a second and just as easily forgotten. To some, we are dark mages who are capable of great destruction. We are the weapons of the night, and the whisperers of secrets that bring down governments without a second thought. Others have hail us heroes, fierce and loyal protectors who are willing to do is whatever is necessary for the greater good. The unenlightened call us the Illuminati. No matter what others may perceive us, our reality is this: to forever serve as the balancing force of this world. We are the prosecutor, judge, jury of all civilizations. Worth lies in a willingness to act. Our word is our bond. Those who strike at us find an uncannily dangerous and ruthless enemy. Those who earn our loyalty and share our agenda soon find a staunch and fierce ally. Ultimately, the ends justify the means. A wise parent knows the importance of giving a young child room to grow and make mistakes but is still quick to protect the child from harming oneself. We strive to be that parent. Civilizations have repeatedly shown themselves possessing both a great capacity for good as well as evil. Those who lack the maturity to choose wisely will find us waiting. Knowledge is Power. Power is Control. Control ensures Balance." Agenda The agenda of the Blood Heralds is largely kept a secret by its leadership. There are three primary objectives that the students have been able to deduced thus far. # Restore the Vek ruling family to their original throne # Defeat the Westgaard Bloodline # Guide the world. (See Section: How the Blood Heralds View the World & Their Place In It) How Do The Blood Heralds Operate The Blood Heralds are silent puppet masters and are essentially the Illuminati of the wizarding world. Their preferred tactic is to infiltrate the ranks an organization and guide from within. A whisper in the right ear can topple a government. A called in favor can bring desired aid to a much-needed area. They work as silent enforcers that operate in the shadows. Blood Heralds are active in many political arenas, seeking ways to gain power and prevent their opponents from harming their agenda. Businesses, courts, bureaucracy, shipping industries, universities, and auror/marshal squads are all areas that the Blood Heralds frequently seek to infiltrate. Recognizing a Blood Herald There are two ways to recognize a Blood Herald: # Active Field Mode: They will be wearing a black cape, a black half-face mask, and there will be a rose on the cape or on them. The way the costume is designed, you won't be able to really tell any identifying features. # Non-active Field Mode: This is when they are blending in with the general populace. For example, there are known Blood Heralds among the faculty at Trefoil Academy. They will be wearing a "rose" on them, somewhere. It can be in the form of a ring, a necklace, a bracelet charm, an anklet, a pin etc. (The Blood Heralds place a high value upon the loyalty and secrecy of their membership to protect the organization as a whole. One will be hard pressed to get a Blood Herald to admit their membership openly so approach it indirectly.) Looking Within the Organization Origins 600 years after the Westgaards had almost completely annihilated the Vek Bloodline (5400 BC approx.), the Veks had begun to show signs of recovery. Two villages bustle with activity while a growing piratical fleet firmly controls the local waterways. Although the position of Admiral of the Brethren has changed hands multiple times, each successor continues to prove worthy and surpass their predecessor. The fleet continues to increasingly travel greater and greater distances in the search of new shores to raid as well as establish profitable trade routes. Katjay and Kennet Fiak of the Vek Bloodline were twins who were passengers who traveled aboard the Vile Serpent, a 60 gun vessel. They were tasked to establish a new trading outpost among the budding town known as Ta Khentit. (Ta Khentit was located in Upper Egypt during early Ancient Egyptian period.) These two sisters were soon to become the first Blood Heralds. Upon their arrival at Ta Khentit, Katjay and Kennet Vek discovered with great dismay that conditions had severely deteriorated since the last time the area had been scouted. The Vile Serpent had already departed and would not be returning for at least 2 years. Katjay and Kennet took it upon themselves to try to help the oppressed population. They had not forgotten the lessons their ancestors had learned at the hands of the Westgaards though. Therefore, they used partial animagus transformations to disguise their true faces so those they helped could not turn on them. This tactic, while effective, spawned a historical account which later muggles took to represent mythological deities. These were the starting days of the Blood Herald organization. The cult of Isis spread like wildfire under the harsh rule of the oppressors. The Ancient Egyptians who worship her believed that she was the patroness of magic and those who behave ill towards the downtrodden feared her vengeful wrath. Her protection also extended to other vulnerable populations including children and mages. The symbol of Isis was a rose. To champion this cause, the Blood Heralds adopted this as their symbol. To further drive fear into one’s enemies’ hearts and unnerve them, the Blood Heralds would leave a calling card of a rose dipped in the blood of the recently slain. Their unspoken challenge was simple: Go ahead and prepare. You will not stop the inevitable. I am coming. Ancient Egyptians believed that the heart, rather than the brain was the source of the one’s essence. The heart not only provided wisdom but one’s emotions and personality. This is the reason that the heart was one of the few organs not permanently removed during mummification. Blood represented health and good fortune. Ancient Egyptians believed that when blood was able to flow freely within the body, a person was thought to be in good health. Otherwise, much how the crops would die with a blocked irrigation canal, disease, destruction, and even death would soon followed blood that had been allowed to stagnate. Because of the bloody roses that Katjay Fiak of the Vek Bloodline left for their enemies, it was their enemies who first named them the Blood Heralds. The bloody rose herald the coming vengeance and that one was marked as a target. Induction A Blood Herald who has not taken the vow is known as a Blood Herald Initiate. They will reside at a training facility for indoctrination. The earliest that someone may become an Initiate is 11. This tends to be more common than not for members of the Vek bloodline as well as other players because that is when society recognizes the start of adulthood. However, individuals are most certainly able to become inducted into the organization later on in life. Due to the wars being waged on multiple fronts, the Blood Heralds have been aggressively recruiting new initiates and informants by any means necessary in order to replenish their ranks. There are several tests that a prospect Blood Herald would need to pass. While the actual tests are tailored and often double as placement tests if one is successful, the nature of the tests are universal. In addition to skill testing, one’s loyalty and ability to follow given instructions in the face of emotional compromise. The actual rite of becoming a Blood Herald is known as the Rhoswen Accord. Rite of the Bleeding Rose aka the Rhoswen Accord It consists of a blood magic oath over a clear crystalline rose called the Sanguine Bleeding Rose. When the blood oath is sworn over it and blood is dripped onto it, the rose turns a brownish-red (aka sanguine). The rite was created after the "War of the Roses". The Sanguine Bleeding Rose is a dark artifact. By adding one’s blood to their ancestors and reciting the Rhoswen Accord, the individual now ties 3 permanent status effects to them. While it is an oath that all Blood Heralds take, only the leadership knows the full oath. The oath of the Rhoswen Accord consists of two verses. The first verse is: "In Blood I bind myself to Shadows, hither on to cast no light. To seek no glory which others see, neither name or face revealed. To this realm and to this line, I breathe balance." The second verse is: "And if I shall fail and fall to another’s magic, Take my anima unto darkness, to wait in shadowed silence, Until my Blood doth summon me out, I do swear." Newly inducted Blood Heralds are then often made to forget about this second verse in the oath of the Bleeding Rose through telepology, which is a branch of dark magic that involves mental manipulation. The three effects are: # A shadowed essence is woven the idea of the Blood Heralds, causing knowledge of the organization to slowly slip from those who are not affiliated when a Blood Herald, active or not, is no longer present. The reason the academy has not been impacted by the first effect of the Blood Herald vow is that there have always been Blood Heralds present. # Those who directly serve received a heightened instinct for deception and misdirection. Those who are non-players find their personal desire for fame and glory muted. The reason for this is that the opposites balance each other out. Shadow must allow a beacon to shine independent in order to survive. # If a Blood Herald is nearly killed/killed by magical means at the hands of an enemy, there runs the risk of one’s anima, aka consciousness, is potentially be drawn back into the Shadow Realm and trapped there. (The exemption to this is the heirloom bound because their anima has been anchored to this realm by their heirloom. Not all descendant bloodlines or allies chose to permit their members to become Blood Heralds. This has no bearing on the relationship between the two bloodlines whatsoever. The following are some, but not all, of the bloodlines who have members that are sworn Blood Heralds: * Hayles Bloodline, Tier 1 Rank 3 of the Engout Board * Abbott Bloodline, Tier 1 Rank 6 of the Engout Board * Mickel Bloodline, Tier 2 Rank 12 of the Engout Board * Tepes Bloodline, Tier 1 Rank 4 of the Cinavetti Board, Duodecim Tribus * Raero Bloodline, Tier 1 Rank 8 of the Cinavetti Board, Duodecim Tribus General Organization The Blood Heralds are overseen by the Leader of the Blood Heralds and that individual's deputies. There is a committee that advises the leader and the deputies. The leader of the Blood Herald has always an heirloom bound of the Vek Bloodline once the Blood Heralds became established. Those that serve among the leadership ranks in supporting the leader of the Blood Heralds are incapable of lying. Choose your questions with care and be specific. They tend to be very good at misleading if one is not careful. Each continent has a Blood Herald General who is responsible for coordinating the activities in their areas and regularly reporting to the leadership. They oversee the continent's primary base, called a stronghold. These strongholds are fortresses, that are well funded and heavily armed. The largest of the strongholds is located in Norway. The estate is known as Slagenspole, and it is the flagship estate of the Vek Bloodline. Each country in a continent is assigned a Captain whose job is to report to the General. Countries are then divided up into different regions, with a Lieutenant assigned to overseeing 10-15 active cells, or strike teams, in a region. Lieutenants report to their country's Captain. A cell is generally made up of 5-6 Blood Heralds called Field Agents, although cells can be larger or smaller. The leader of the cell is called a Sergeant, and reports to the region's Lieutenant. The second-in-command of a cell is called a Corporal. Often, cells create a team specific base in which team members may meet and plan their next missions. These bases tend to be small and limited to only a few rooms. Some strike teams may even choose to use a hidden room located within their home. For sensitive or high priority missions, a temporary task force may be assembled. This is different than a strike force in several ways. The first is that members are together a limited period of time in order to achieve a particular objective. The second is that task forces tend to be larger in size compared to a normal strike team. Initiates will reside at a regional base, called an outpost, where they will be trained and overseen by the region's Lieutenant. These outposts are often set up in locations such as a network of tunnels underneath a large city, near the docks in a highly active port, or even abandoned mines to a nearby town. Once initiates complete their basic training, they swear the oath over the Sanguine Bleeding Rose and become a novice. They will have not receive a set of numbers until they take the vow. Once they swear the oath and become novices, they are sent to their country's primary base, called the Hub. They will train upwards of 1-2 years before receiving their first strike team assignment. Because of the size of these bases, Hubs tend to be set up underneath a large estate with a vast part of the structure underground. While the average number of floors consists of 8-12, some of the older hubs are capable of consisting of 16 floors or more. They are overseen by that country’s captain, who reports to that continent’s general. Identification Numbers Numerous societies throughout history place a strong emphasis on one’s name. It is not uncommon for an individual to take on the attributes of their given name due to labeling theory. In various magical systems, knowing an individual’s true name grants you power over them. Because of this, Blood Heralds refer to each other by a series of numbers rather than a name pseudonym. Over time, a name pseudonym could morph into a true name. A Blood Herald’s ID consists of six slots for the first six numbers. Any additional numbers after that point are use to clearly differentiate between individuals with identical numbers for the first six. * Slot 1: Position/Role * Slot 2: Rank * Slot 3: Lineage * Slot 4-6: Skill Sets Slot * 7+: Unique identifiers if necessary - more common among the lower ranks How to Decode a Blood Herald ID Number: Each number has a specific meaning to it, and that meaning changes based on the slot you are looking for. Slot 1: Position/Role # Head of the Vek Bloodline # Heir or Heiress of the Vek Bloodline # Plumbum Stipator # Bodyguard (i.e. Candidates, Prospects, Guards) # Scholar (i.e. Researcher, Teacher etc) # Transporter (i.e. Smuggler) # Enforcer (i.e. Fighter, Assassin etc) # Purveyor (i.e. Merchant, Pirate, Thief etc) # Information Gatherer (i.e. Spy Infiltrator) Slot 2: Rank # Novice - a newly inducted who is learning the ropes # Field Agent - Belongs to a cell. A cell consists of 3-6 Agents # Corporal - Second in cell # Sergeant - Leader of an active cell # Lieutenant - Oversees 10-15 active cells in a region # Captain - Oversees the lieutenants in a particular country # General - Oversees the Captains on a particular continent # Advisor To Leadership # Leadership Slot 3: Lineage # Half Member of the Vek Bloodline # Member of the Vek Bloodline # Ruling Family of the Vek Bloodline # Servant to the Vek Bloodline # Ally of the Vek Bloodline # Unaffiliated Slot 4-6: These deal with an individual’s particular talents and skill sets # Tactics (i.e. Social Sciences) # Infiltration (i.e. Languages, Acting) # Criminal (i.e. Espionage, Thievery, Assassination) # Magic (i.e. Dark Magic, Light Magic) # Animal Handling/Training # Combat (i.e. Martial Arts, Range, Hand to Hand Weapons) # Trade (i.e. Networking, Negotiating, Smuggling) # Crafting (i.e. Leatherwork, Metalwork, Artificing etc) # Specialization (i.e. A catch all) A Blood Herald’s number ID will change over the course of their career. Current Organization - What Is Known The current leader of the Blood Heralds is 293164. His real name is Lord Claudius Vek. (The proper address is "my lord, Lord Vek", or even "Lord 293164". Remember to stay respectful and choose your words carefully. Manners are very important.) Claudius Vek is the son of the Warlady Karolina Vek, and is heir to the Vek Bloodline. He has multiple children and is very much the proud and protective father over his “cubs”. His children’s names are Melanthe Vek (17(, Nikolina Vek (6), Sionn Vek (3), Aisling Vek (3), and Ronan Vek (3). Nikolina Vek, also called Nika, especially enjoys interacting with the students of Trefoil Academy via the long distance learning artifacts. Nikolina had a twin named Viktor who was taken as a baby and murdered by the Westgaards. This added to the hatred between the Blood Heralds/Veks and the Westgaards. Warlord 293164 said due to the political situation he cannot reveal the name of the mother. However, we know that Lady Caitlin Diana Sloan-Davis, aka Paws, is the mother of Nikolina and the triplets, but she is not the mother of Melanthe. He also says he is raising them alone right now. Warlord 293164 also has a teenage sister named Seran Vek, who is a candidate within the Dinah Community. (The Dinah Community is dedicated to the protection of their bloodline's heirloom bound, and they are overseen by that heirloom bound's plumbum stipator. Seran is also a Blood Herald. Her I.D. is 423634. Asher Niesh of the Vek Bloodline, aka Ash, is the first cousin of Lord 293164 and is not a member of the immediate royal Vek family. Asher’s I.D. number is 392643, and she is Lord Vek's second-in-command among the Blood Heralds as well as his Plumbum Stipator. There was a period of time that she went on multi-year hiatus from the Blood Heralds. The reason the Blood Heralds were leaving resources for the academy was in an attempt to re-establish connections. Trefoil Academy voted to have her return to the Blood Heralds as an active agent when they also voted to allied with the Blood Heralds. Mr. Galen Hayles (aka Mr. Sneak Sneak), the heir apparent of the Hayles Bloodline, is a Blood Herald. His number is 965218. There are other known Blood Heralds among the faculty, and it is an active cell. Those that serve the leader of the Blood Heralds are incapable of lying. Choose your questions with care and be specific. They tend to be very good at misleading if one is not careful. General History: * Mary Stuart, Mary I, or Mary Queen of Scots, was born on December 8th, 1542, and stepped into the throne when she was just 6 days old, so for a long time, Regents took care of the work, while Mary grew up in France. When Mary was around 16, a wedding was planned between her and Francis II, the former Dauphin of France. The purpose was to show peace between France and Scotland. A Dauphin is a person who is next in line for the throne, and the term is no longer used in France. After one year of marriage, in 1559, Francis's father died, making Francis II the King of France. This made Mary I the Queen Consort of France. However, in 1560, Francis II died. The cause of death is unknown, supposedly an ear condition had something to do with it. Now a widow, Mary Stuart returned to Scotland. Four years later, in 1565, she married her first-cousin, Henry Stuart. They had a child together, James VI. Eight months after James was born, Henry Stuart died. He had smallpox, so he went to stay with his family in Glasgow. Mary did not come with him, and instead attended the wedding of a servant/musician. While Henry Stuart was sleeping upstairs at a 2 story house, 2 explosions went off in the room under where Henry Stuart was sleeping. His body, and the body of his valet were discovered outside, surrounded by a cloak, a dagger, a chair, and a coat. The cause of death was ruled to be strangulation that took place after the explosion. Initially, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was accused, along with Mary I herself. Hepburn was found not guilty, and Mary's trial was long and ended with no definitive finding. Between April 21st and April 23rd, Mary, Queen of Scots went to visit her son in Stirling, and was abducted, whether willingly or not is unknown, by none other than the 4th Earl of Bothwell himself, James Hepburn. On May 6th, Hepburn and Stuart went to Edinburgh, and later in May, they were married according to Protestant Rites. This marriage was widely disliked due to the fact that most people believed Hepburn killed Mary's former husband. In fact, it was so disliked that a riot broke out, taking both James Hepburn and Mary Stuart. There were negotiations, and Hepburn was safely let go. Mary I, on the other hand, was taken to Edinburgh and was slandered by crowds. Due to her imprisonment, she was forced to vote in favor of her son replacing her throne in Scotland. James VI replaced her during July of 1567. Mary was being imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle, which was owned by Sir William Douglas. With the help of William's brother, George Douglas, Mary Stuart escaped and had to flee south to Cumberland. When Mary I was in England, she called upon the help of her first cousin, once removed, Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I, however, was very timid in helping Mary, due to her bad reputation and rumors of her murdering Henry Stuart. Because many Catholics believed that Mary, Queen of Scots was the rightful owner of the throne in England, Queen Elizabeth I considered her to be a threat. Thus Elizabeth ordered Mary to imprisonment in various places across England. It was here in these prisons where Mary Stuart first came up with the plans to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. Somehow notes were passed between the imprisoned Mary I and the other people in the assassination plan, but they passed notes written in code. Queen Elizabeth I had a spymaster by the name of Sir Francis Walsingham. Francis Walsingham, with the help of some others, was able to intercept the messages from Mary I before they reached her supporters, and vice versa. Then, he was able to copy and return the messages without being caught. After a little bit, he cracked the code being used to send the messages, and could now discover what exactly they were all planning to do. Walsingham was then able to add in his own messages to Mary I, making her believe it was her trusted friends who were not in jail. Francis caught Mary I by laying a trap in the notes, and Mary, Queen of Scots, was sentenced to death by Queen Elizabeth I. The significance of this story is that Elizabeth the First was also a Blood Herald. Her number was 975132. Her older sister Mary, however, was not. There are always consequences to one’s actions, and Mary’s reign was plagued by countless obstacles that did not necessarily have to be there. Elizabeth proved to be wiser than her sister in accepting. As for the letter that condemned Mary of Scotts. The back and forth couriering was done by various Blood Herald informants who had orders to make sure it was eventually delivered to 975132 herself. This is an example of Blood Heralds protecting their own. * 38 Blood Herald Fortresses found throughout the Roman Empire coordinated together. Collaborating with each other, they handle the negotiations and meditated between the Roman Empire and the various personalities of the conquered people. As a result, Pax Romana occurred. Pax Romana was the precursor to the modern concept of the nation-state. Many innovations were developed that are still used today, such as a postal system, plumbing, improved engineering in roads, a new legal system, and various cultural advances. * Robert Gutenberg, known as 521872, invented the printing press around 1440. Before this monumental creation, books were copied by hand. Laboriously, monks and other men of learning would spend hours and hours through the bright sunlight and the weak light of an oil lamp to make copies of religious texts, literature, and official documents. It could take years just to copy one book. When Gutenberg devised a printing press that could print copy after copy in just a small fraction of the time, the whole world changed dramatically. Learning was not limited to a select few. It was available for all. No more would we lean on a select few to direct us. We could take it for ourselves. * A lot can ride on a hand of poker, and the American Revolution would have happened very differently if it had not been for Blood Herald involvement. Prior to the crossing of the Delaware River, General Washington had not had any successes nor pay for the men in his army. The military contracts were due to expire. The night before crossing was going to occur, General Washington’s second attempted to cross early and got captured. A warning was sent to Col. Rall and the Hessians at Trenton to be ready for a possible attack. While the message had been delivered to the colonel, it was never read. He was too distracted by a stroke of extremely good luck at the poker table. The Blood Herald agent was later reported remarking, “It is surprisingly hard to lose at a game of poker convincingly.” * The Chernobyl disaster, also referred to as the Chernobyl accident, was a catastrophic nuclear accident. It occurred on 25–26 April 1986 in the No. 4 light water graphite moderated reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near the now-abandoned town of Pripyat, in northern Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, approximately 104 km (65 mi) north of Kiev. The reactor was encouraged to fail in order to take out an enemy strong post that was growing too large for the local Blood Herald fortess to handle. * The Spanish Armada was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from A Coruña in late May 1588, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England. The strategic aim was to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. A team of Blood Heralds slipped under the cloak of a raging thunderstorm to sabotage over a third of the ships and scatter the rest. The attempted invasion was a failure. * Amelia Earhart was a trailblazing pilot and author went “missing” in 1937, while trying to fly nonstop around the equator, along with navigator Fred Noonan. Earhart had been the first female aviator to fly across the Atlantic Ocean all by herself. Radio transmissions were heard from her plane before it went missing. In one recording, Earhart said she was running low on gas. Metal was found on a Pacific Island, and some experts believe that could be part of her plane. It was a fake crime scene. Earhart was 532162. Her cover had been blown by the Westgaards, and she was cleaning up the loose ends. * What the Bermuda Triangle is to landlubbers, Palmyra Island is to seafarers. After its discovery, Palmyra quickly gained a reputation. Passing boats reported that ghostly lights could be seen flittering the uninhabited island. Ships would outright disappear. Flying broomsticks would fall out of the sky for no reason. The surrounding seas were said to be infested with vicious sharks and mysterious sea monsters.The perilous reefs around Palmyra were also notorious for wrecking ships. Those who avoided such fates often spoke of how the reefs almost seemed to spontaneously jut forth from the sea where there was nothing moments before. The reefs of Palmyra atoll were sometimes whispered about as almost some sort of willful and sentient thing. A Blood Herald secret exists on the Palmyra Island and is the cause for the disturbance. * More coming as it is discovered Major Historical Events of Note: The Doomsday Device and the Academy Luana Artemis, one of the Trefoil Academy founders, belong to a bloodline called the Varig Bloodline. This was a descendant bloodline of the Vek Bloodline. (A descendent bloodline is an offshoot of an older bloodline. A family branch gets large enough that it is able to support itself. A descendant bloodline may be established either peacefully or through open arm conflict. Normally, it is the first for the latter is rarely successful.) Luana Artemis’s fifth cousin was the leader of the Blood Heralds. It was because of this blood connection that prompted the academy founders to approach the leader of the Blood Heralds, 293821, for assistance in hiding the Doomsday Artifact. A deal was struck. In exchange for hiding the Doomsday device, the founders would agree to cast an intense concealment spell later on. This was the spell that would later be used to hide the Rhoswen Canopic Jar in 293821's pyramid. The assembled doomsday artifact was hidden in 1450. During this time, the leader of the Blood Heralds, 293821, order the creation of a map in case the assembled doomsday device needed to be retrieved. She disagreed with her fifth cousin, Luna Artemis, that it would forever remain buried. Once the map was created, it was broken down into smaller components and then entrusted to families and locations. To make sure that the pieces would not be forever lost in time, each map piece was marked and a tailored scrying potion recipe was created just for those markers. As an additional layer of protection, a separate compass was created so that one would not be able to follow the map’s instructions without it. The compass was hidden within the contents of an old diary, and the diary stored in the tomb of the Blood Herald’s founder. This diary was known as Whispers of the Void. The Great Divide aka the War Of the Roses The Great Divide was the first major civil war within the Blood Heralds. It resulted in the creation of the Rhowsen Accord aka the Blood Herald Oath. The Rhoswen Canopic Jar was created as a prison as well. Henry the 3rd of House Plantagenet had five children. His second son was a bit different compared to the other children. Edmund Crouchback had the mage-gift and was the first of his family to do so. These were times were mage-children were not so closely scribed upon by wizarding institutions. A common fate would have been to put the child to death, claiming possession by evil forces. For all of Henry the 3rd’s peculiarities, he did love his offspring as much as a ruler could. Therefore, he set aside a swath of land called Lancaster to bundle the boy out of sight of those who would hunt him down. Edmund Crouchback was a savvy young man but out his depths. As the second son of a king, there was naturally courtly intrigue that surrounded him. In exchange for support and structured training his otherwise unexplainable gifts, he agreed to join the ranks of the Blood Heralds. His number eventually became 975134. Not a bad career at all for someone who born from two outsiders. 975134 was also quite skilled at recruiting others to the Blood Herald ranks and took every opportunity to do so. This most advantageous given how the House of Lancaster would marry into other houses. While these individuals not belong to a proper bloodline and have the honorific ancestral claim, they still held considerable sway over the region and merited a working relationship with the Vek Bloodline. House Lancaster was not the only regiment of Blood Heralds in the area though. There was also the rise of the House of York, who received Vek permission to use the white rose to represent its own particular branch. Another name for white rose is “the Death Rose” or in Gaelic, the Rhoswen. The Tudor rose, which is a rose used as a symbol of the House of York and Lancaster in England, as you can see consists of a white rose blazoned on the red rose. The white rose represents of the House of York while the red rose is the symbol of the House of Lancaster. This is not a mere coincidence but rather a deliberate and open display of affiliation. For a while, the two regiments appeared to jostle for power. This merely orchestrated, and snickered heavily about behind protective wards, in order to keep the less enlightened and the less supportive unaware how powerful both houses truly were. Then, one day, the infighting turned real. The House of York grew too ambitious. They grew increasingly eager to lay claim to the Blood Heralds as their own rather than honor the Vek Bloodline’s claim. The House of Lancaster took up arms as the Vek Bloodline’s bannerman. So extreme was the Blood Herald’s effort to eliminate the Rhoswen that they enlisted the help of many wizards to eliminate them. This event was remembered in wizarding history as only the smallest of the ‘Pureblood Wars’ or among the muggles, 'The War of the Roses, 1455 to 1485 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York'. The tipping point with the Rhoswen Sect was when they imprisoned two young Blood Herald informants and future recruits in the Tower of London. The cur, Richard the III sold them out to the Kneppt Bloodline, an ally bloodline of the Westgaards, in exchange for aid. A line had been firmly crossed. It was Henry Tudor, aka 975643, a Blood Herald who general oversaw the final defeat of those traitors. '' History with Trefoil Academy Here is a list of more recent ways the Academy has been helped by the Blood Heralds: In the Case of the Stolen House Gems * The Blood Heralds gave the information tips about the horcruxes In the Case of the Hidden Horcruxes and Imperious Staff * The Blood Heralds gave an early alert about the imperious curse * The Blood Heralds gave The Academy a sneak-o-scope as well In the Case of A Murder Most Foul/Dark Artifacts House Quest * The Blood Heralds gave an early warning of an impending attack * The Blood Heralds gave the dark artifacts were provided as resources to bolster/raise the barrier surrounding the castle. In the Case of the Released Prisoners/Stuck Back In Time * The Blood Heralds gave the means to travel back in time * The Blood Heralds gave the plans for building a time machine * The Blood Heralds gave information concerning Garnet/buffered her counterattacks. In the Case of Garnet’s Daughter/Truth Behind Her Followers * The Blood Heralds leaked information about Garnet * The Blood Heralds Agents/Supporters acted more directly in confronting Garnet while hiding from the campers. In the Case of Pile Higher and Deeper: * The Blood Heralds provided the resource manual on how to reforge the house gems * The Blood Heralds provided four artifacts: ** Box of Last Regrets - 4 mystery wishes to undo a previous mistake. Had to be worded carefully. Wish was randomly chosen *** “Dumbledore is no longer trapped in the Shadow Realm.” Does not negate the consequences of the realm’s influence. ** Shadow Claw *** Used to Destroy Luner’s Amulet of Blood Absorption ** The Portal Key (now back in 293164’s possession) *** Once tied to a particular dimension, it could be used to close/open that portal at will. ** Travel Dust (consumed) *** It was used to return to the present. However, the academy had already altered history. In the Case of the Pandora Box: * The Academy gained a reputation point by recovering the canopic jar and returning it to the Blood Heralds. In exchange, they provided location about the Prophecy of the Second Coming (See Prophecy page). Current Events Disappearing Strike Teams While losses are to be expected on higher risk missions, it is abnormal for an entire team to simply disappear. Captains in New England, England, China and Mexico have each reported the disappearance of strike teams. An investigatory task force was deployed to investigate each of the disappearances. Given the unprecedented number of disappearances within a short time frame, 293164 just recently commanded that trackers be issued to each member world wide. The last time such a drastic level of measure was taken was during the Great Divide, and that had resulted in the creation of the Rhoswen Accord. Not even during Garnet Itzel’s failed attempt to lead a rebellion within the ranks of the Blood Heralds were trackers issued. It is a sign of that a war that is being waged. The tracker’s primary shape is an enchanted rose pin. However, it is able to have its shape transmuted by the wearer. The tracker’s enchantment is blood magic in origin, which is a particular branch of dark magic. Trackers use blood magic to track the movements of an agent among other things. This includes ensuring a relatively fresh sample is routinely secured and automatically provided to the Sanguine Bleeding Rose. Blood Magic follows the concept of the “True Name”. Only a drop is needed in order to tailor a spell. The fresher the sample, the more effective the casting will be. This form of magic is more of a booster or hindrance rather than its own stand-alone field. Blood magic can be used to set wards and make individuals more susceptible to other forms of magic. In some spells, mind-to-mind link communication is possible or scrying on a specific individual quickly and accurately. Blood Magic will provide a distance link with which to target a spell. Note that some magic is impossible to target without the use of blood magic. Agents have been warned of dire consequences will occur if they seek to remove the tracker voluntarily. It should only be done if an agent has no other choice. England's Strike Teams The England Captain’s first strike team disappeared just 12 months ago. The second strike team and third strike disappeared less than three weeks apart. After the disappearance of the first strike team, tacticians have repeatedly noticed an increased level of difficulty across all of the missions in the area regardless if one’s target is muggle or mage-born. There were even uptick of open conflicts by targets that should have had no warning of a pending attack. A task force was deployed to investigate the disappearance each of the strike teams. Their base of operations had been completely cleaned out. Their last known place of residence has equally been scrubbed clean both physically and magically. China's Strike Teams The Seal of the Realm or the Imperial Seal is a Chinese jade seal carved out of Heshibi, a sacred piece of jade. It is rumored to be a fragment of great power and that its bearer becomes the rightful ruler over the land. In 221 BC, the Seal was created when Qin Shi Huang destroyed the remaining Warring States and united China under the Qin Dynasty. Heshibi was a famous piece of jade stone which previously belonged to the Zhao state. Passing into the hands of the new Emperor of China, he ordered it made into his Imperial seal. The words, "Having received the Mandate, may lead a long and prosperous life." It was carved onto the seal by Sun Shou. The Seal was carved from jade because in ancient China, jade was symbolic of the inner beauty within humans. Many tombs and burials from ancient China contained decorative jade, including a jade burial suit unearthed that belonged to a Han prince, Liu Sheng. During the Han dynasty, the Chinese associated jade with immortality to a point where some individuals attempted to drink jade in liquid form to gain eternal life. This association further complements the idea of the Mandate and why the Seal was carved in jade, China's most valued material for thousands of years. At the death of the second Emperor of Qin, his successor Ziying proffered the seal to the new ruler of the Han Dynasty, whereafter it was known as the "Seal of the Realm". At the end of the Western Han Dynasty in 9 AD, Wang Mang, the new ruler, forced the former mother of the executed ruler to hand over the Seal. She, in anger, threw the Seal on the ground, chipping one corner. Later, Wang Mang ordered the corner to be restored with gold. This seal passed on even as dynasties rose and fell. It was seen as a legitimizing device, signalling the transfer of power. During turbulent periods, such as the Three Kingdoms period, the seal became the object of rivalry and armed conflict. Regimes which possessed the seal declared themselves, and are often historically regarded as legitimate. At the end of the Han Dynasty in the 3rd century AD, General Sun Jian found the Imperial Seal when his forces occupied the evacuated Han imperial capital Luoyang, in the sequence of the campaign against Dong Zhuo, giving it to his chief, Warlord Yuan Shu. Warlord Yuan Shu then declared himself ruler under the short-lived Zhong dynasty in 197. This act angered the neighboring warlords Cao Cao and Liu Bei, leading to several crushing defeats by each army. When Yuan Shu was defeated in 199 by Liu Bei, the Seal came into the hands of Cao Cao, whose son Cao Pi proclaimed the Wei Dynasty as the legitimate The Seal was passed through the Wei Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, Sixteen Kingdoms period, Southern and Northern Dynasties period, Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, but was lost to history in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907-960). The fate of the seal during and after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period is not recorded - the time at which it was physically lost from the control of a ruler is not known. Three theories exist as to when, and how, it was lost: #At the end of the Later Tang, when the last ruler died. #In 946 AD when the Emperor Taizong of Liao captured the last Emperor of the Later Jin state. #The seal came into the hands of the later Yuan emperors. When the Ming armies captured the Yuan capital in 1369, it captured just one out of the eleven personal Seals of the Yuan emperors. The Imperial Seal was not found. In 1370, Ming armies invaded Mongolia and captured some treasures brought there by the retreating Yuan emperor. However, once more the Imperial Seal was not found. Several seals have since been claimed as the lost Seal, but none have held up under scrutiny. In at least one case, the seal concerned was found to be a personal seal of a ruler, rather than the Imperial Seal. Each of the three strike teams were tasked with trying to track down the lost Imperial Seal. The three different major theories were broken up among them. Using their networks, three different locations of ancient ruins were identified as likely areas to be searched. One ruin had collapsed into a sinkhole and was partially buried. The other two were heavily overgrown and in the middle of a thick jungle out in the wilderness. When an investigation task force was sent to follow up on the strike teams, they concluded that each team never arrived at their destination. Something must have happened while on route. Mexico's Strike Teams The bloodstone is a grayish-black rock carved into the shape of a human head covered in stylized carvings. When activated, the stone bleeds from the top of it's skull. The bloodstone is inlaid with white stone eyes with carved swirls for irises. Immediately between the eyes is a small square bloodstone nose. It has teeth made of crystals of different sizes, and the inside of the head is hollow enough for items to be placed or dropped inside it. This stone was most likely used in ancient Aztec ceremonial rituals. Based on the muggle’s actions, the bloodstone appears to be activated when someone cuts themselves on the teeth inside the mouth. After their blood "feeds" the stone, the head itself drips blood of unknown origin. The person who is cut continues to bleed from their cut despite any bandaging. They are also taken over by feverish chills and a type of controlled frenzy that encourages murderous behavior. Their eyes appear bloodshot and glassy, as if they are not in control of their own actions. If the stone is deactivated, all the blood that had dripped off the stone disappears and the stone's victim is free of its influence, but slips into a coma. This item was on display at the National Museum of History in Mexico City. Before the stone was placed on display, an expert at the museum, was assigned to clean it. He accidentally activated the bloodstone when he used his bare hands to retrieve a tool that had been dropped inside and subsequently cut his finger on one of the jagged crystalline teeth that lined the open mouth. The blood from his cut finger appeared to activate the bloodstone. A Blood Herald strike team was sent to restore order to the area and to retrieve the artifact. While the memories of the muggles were wiped, they never returned with the fragment nor did they ever report in. There have been no sign of their corpses either. New England Strike Teams Strike Team 1: ''The team was given the mission of infiltrating the main corporate headquarters of Vizier Aura Corporation located in Salem, Massacuttets. While the team managed to infiltrate the headquarters, they quickly discovered that any divination charms were routinely purged and without any warning that someone was attempting to purge the spell. Non-magic base survillenance was also routinely swept for. The last three reports from the strike team indicated that track the individuals who worked at the corporate headquarters, and see if there were ways to cultivate a friendship with a few promising candidates’ families outside of the workplace. Those friendships would then be used in order to try to find out more information. An investigatory task force visit the apartments where the members of the team had been staying. Everything had been stripped cleaned. All of the traps and wards, both magical and physical, had been purged. It was as if no one had ever been there. ''Strike Team 2: The team was given the mission of infiltrating the primary Eastern research lab of Vizier Aura Corporation located in Hartford, Connecticut. The team reported in impressive degree of security surrounding the lab itself and that it could easily rivaled a tier 1 bloodline’s paranoia in its security measures minus the presence of actual magic based security. More importantly, any attempts to cast any magic around or in the lab automatically failed. This included simple spells that have been practiced since agneshood failed. Any magical artifacts also immediately ceased. The team also reported members noticed that they were steadily became sicker the longer and further that they tried to ventured into the lab itself. They also noticed a collaboration between length of exposure and length of time it took before they could cast magic again. Because of their inability to cast magic and the building sickness, the team opted to pull back to the very parameter of the lab and monitor it at a distance. The latest report from this team recommended the cultivation of a non-mage/non-magic informant to order to explore the lab. They also indicated they would begin the process of doing so. ''Strike Team 3: ''The team was given the mission of infiltrating and joining the latest batch of hires at the indoctrination center in New York City, New York. All but one of the team members managed to successfully infiltrate the latest batch of hires. Each of them located an individual who was scheduled for an interview with Vizier Aura Corporation and then took that person’s place. Out of the four individuals, three of them were hired and told to report to the Center. According to the records, 925196 returned to their base of operations and continued to look for a way in. 945192 hired as a researcher and her last known alias was Dr. Janet Brown. 935123 was hired as a janitor, and her last known alias was Ms. Nancy Kane. 925267 was hired as an intern and his name was Mr. Roger Burns. There were a few reports on file that 925196 passed on to the region’s lieutenant. On more than one occasion, the length of the regular check-ins had to be adjusted for the other three. Reports from Mr. Roger Burns were regularly at first and then grew to be slower as time progressed. The reports illustrated that Vizier Aura Corporation was well-aware of the presence of magic and used an aggressive rhetoric that was very anti-magic oriented. Interns were subjected to a wide variety of brainwashing techniques including sleep deprivation and gas lighting in order to break down their psyche.Those who reported on others were rewarded while the rest of the interns would be punished and forced to watch the reward be enjoyed. Ms. Nancy Kane reports were the most regular of the three Blood Heralds who infiltrated. She noticed that the foot traffic of those entering in the building was always greater than those who left the building. Nor were some individuals ever seen again. She also discovered an entire building of dorminatories that had increased security around it and that they did their own janitorial cleaning. Ms. Kane’s last report indicated that she was going to try to get transferred to that particular area. Dr. Janet Brown reported in at the slowest of frequency of the three. However, the reports contained the most chilling of information. The lab that she had infiltrated was conducting genetic engineering. They were seeking to splice regular genes with a gene known as Gene 45CFR. Once successful, there were plans to begin human testing immediately. Dr. Janet Brown reported that she would seek to find out more information about the human testing; however, she was steadily growing ill from working in the lab. The Blood Herald, 925267, impersonating Roger Burns was the first to not report in soon followed by 935123, impersonating Nancy Kane. 925196 alerted their Lieutenant after the two missed their second check-in. It was a week later that the 925196 also mentioned that Dr. Janet Brown had failed to also report in. 925196 was ordered to return to the Hub. An advanced recovery team was deployed to assess what happened to original members and what the changes were for rescue and/or recovery. The advance recovery team has not been heard from as of today. Category:Faction